Forty Under 40

Jesse Grant, 35

Senior vice president,
CBRE

"I'm this kid from the West Coast who sees Cleveland with fresh eyes."

As a senior vice president at CBRE, Jesse Grant travels the world working on property matters for big corporations with stops in China, Singapore and Paris.

Yet somehow he also manages to be part of a team developing eye-catching, pricey townhouses in the city such as Tremont Black.

Most people scarcely could handle one such pursuit.

But Grant is a high-energy person. And he has awards to prove it. He does "sprint triathlons," which are half the length of the Olympic triathlon. He represented the U.S. 35-39 age group in the 2017 ITU World Triathlon last September in Rotterdam.

At CBRE, Grant is the younger of two senior partners who lead a 15-person team that consults on real estate for mid-sized private companies and Fortune500 firms and operates for them more than 4,000 properties.

"It is a multi-million-dollar business," said David Browning, managing director of CBRE's Cleveland office. "He's a strategic thinker as well as a good leader. He's working 60 hours a week at CBRE. Then, bingo! He comes up as partners with (real estate developer) Fred Geis to buy Scranton Peninsula from Forest City Realty Trust."

For his part, Grant said it's not just himself but a team he partners with that is in the peninsula deal.

"We're happy to be a small part of it," Grant said. He said his group's being part of the project had an unlikely start all of nine years ago.

"(Geis) and I drove through the peninsula on the way to lunch. We looked at each other and asked how many cities have such a parcel available," he said.

Now the partners control the property; plans for it are still under wraps as it is in the planning stages.

Grant attributes his interest in real estate and "how cities work" to growing up as a city kid in Portland, Ore. He came here partly to attend Cleveland State University's highly ranked College of Urban Affairs for a master's in urban planning, finance and real estate.

He also chose Cleveland over New York City for study or going home to Portland to live. So, why here?

"It's a city that is reidentifying itself." — Stan Bullard

CRAIN'S NEWS ALERTS

Sign up for free email news alerts and stay connected to important business news straight to your inbox.

Email Address

Subscribe Today

Don't miss the chance to get the biggest news first! Stay connected to Northeast Ohio business news in print and online